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Imagine one giant party to celebrate everyone’s birthday. Sounds kinda wild, doesn’t it? Well Wildside Youth Ministries likes to do things a little different so they kicked off their school year party season with a huge birthday party celebration!

All the kids who attended the Birthday Bash on September 25th were able to celebrate their birthday. Each month was given a celebration and no one was left out of the fun! 52 kids ages 5-12 attended the first Wildside party of the season where they played birthday themed carnival games, painted faces, made crafts and enjoyed some great food.

But the most important part of the evening was learning about having the most important birthday: a spiritual birthday. The kids in attendance learned all about the importance of being born again and following Jesus.

Wildside is the youth ministry at The Hope Center. In addition to monthly large event parties during the school year, Wildside hosts Sunday Night Wild on select Sunday evenings during the school year as well as The Crew which is the student leadership development program for older kids in the program. And each summer Wildside hosts Camp Wild, a free day camp for kids in July & August. All Wildside activities are free for kids ages 5-12. Learn more about Wildside and upcoming events by visiting http://www.wildsideyouth.com.

Your financial donations to The Hope Center help fund these important activities for kids in Hagerstown. We are able to keep Wildside and our other programs and services for free for our guests because of generous and faithful supporters in our community. Thank you for your support of The Hope Center as we continue to reach everyone in our community – even kids – for Christ!

Want to learn more about donating or volunteering at The Hope Center? Go to http://www.hagerstownhopecenter.com to get all the info you need on how to become a partner with us.

We want to send out a huge THANK YOU to the employees at Eaton, and especially, Jamie, Judy, and Bea who organized the donation drive and also Maddi for reaching out to us.

We are so thankful for this much needed donation to The Hope Center! While food donations are important and much needed, we also often need things like personal care items, medicines, pillows, towels, washcloths and the such. With the men who are residents in our 13-month program, Foundations Life Recovery, as well as the hundreds of transient/homeless who seek shelter every night of the year, we go through a lot of personal care items. And we also gladly hand out personal care items to people in the community who are in need. So receiving these items is such a huge blessing to our program.

Thank you again to everyone at Eaton in Williamsport who was a part of this donation drive!

If you, your place of employment, civic club, church, scout troop, or another organization want to host a food or personal care drive like Eaton then please contact us. We feed thousands of people each year and give out personal care items just as often to anyone in our community in need. These donations help us keep our costs down so we can continue to provide all services free of charge for all guests and residents – especially since we take no government funding or tax money. A tub of toothpaste, a pair of socks, and a jar of peanut butter may not seem like much but they can make the difference in the lives of a needy neighbor more than you will ever know.

At the end of 2017, we said goodbye to our Sorting Room Supervisor, Dorcas Black, as she kicked off 2018 with her retirement. Dorcas, daughter of founders, Jim & Ellen Resh, has been a constant part of the ministry at The Hope Center since it’s very beginning. She has had the role of Sorting Room Supervisor since 2009.

As Dorcas prepared for her exit, we obviously had to find someone to fill her shoes and take over the task of keeping our sorting operation running smoothly and effectively. And we needed to find someone who could be mentored by Dorcas before she retired.

After sifting through over a hundred interested applicants, Aimee Izer was chosen to fill the role as Sorting Room Supervisor. As supervisor, Aimee will manage the employees who sort through all the boxes and bags of donated items. These employees also price all items, from housewares, to shoes, clothing, coats, toys, and everything else in our Thrift Stores. Aimee also makes sure that our stores, in Hagerstown & Chambersburg, have the items they need to keep the shelves and racks fully stocked.

We are so happy to have Aimee join the ministry team at The Hope Center and we’re excited to see how God will use her to help us minister to the thousands of people who visit The Hope Center seeking helping.

We asked Aimee to briefly tell us about herself and the journey that brought her to work at The Hope Center:

“Sometimes the Lord encourages us to take a step of faith and trust His leading. That is what happened to me on November, 27th, 2017. After many months of prayer and searching for a new job with no success, the Lord said, “do you trust Me?” I had left my current place of employment without having the security of something else lined up.

The very next day I received an application in the mail from The Hope Center. I had applied for a position online about two weeks or so prior. The application had a note asking that I please complete and return as soon as possible. I was so excited, I immediately prayed and completed the application, dropping it off the next day.

That afternoon I received a phone call to set up an interview for the following morning. I came in Thursday to meet with Mr. Shank. After a great meeting, I was offered a job as Sorting Room Supervisor. Praise God! He is so good and His timing is always perfect. I only had one week between jobs.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here. I truly believe that God was working and moving to bring me to where I am. I have been given such a great opportunity to continue to bring new ideas to an amazing ministry. I cannot wait to see how the Lord leads and allows me to become a part of The Hope Center.

Along with working, I am a wife to my amazing husband, Terry, of 25 years. I’m a mom to four awesome sons, mother-in-law to two beautiful ladies, and “Gigi” to my two grandsons.

When I’m not at work, I love being a mom and grandmother, spending as much time with my family as I can.

I also enjoy gardening, tea, reading, and decorating. I love the warm months of the year and being outside.

I serve and awesome God who is so faithful to us. He has been challenging me to not just fill myself up with Him, but to pour out what He has given to me. Then he can continue to fill me again.

Proverbs 11:25 says, “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”

Want to be a part of this ministry and give Aimee and her Sorting Room team something to do? Just donate your gently used items to us! The proceeds from the sales of your items help to underwrite the operating costs of The Hope Center so we can continue to provide free services to all our guests while also never costing the tax payer a penny. And in addition to store sales, any guest who desperately needs items like shoes, coats, clothing or household items can receive vouchers to receive those much needed items for free. Your donation can help so many different people in so many ways!

Every year we hear one of the most widely known and, depending on the day or the version, possibly most annoying song of the Christmas season. At first, it’s fun. But by the time we hit the eight maids-a-milking we’ve generally had enough of the song and it’s constant reminder that our memory isn’t what it used to be.

No matter how bad our memory gets, the first time it comes on for the season it’s a fun challenge to try to remember each of the gifts throughout the twelve days.

But those gifts… what an interesting, yet thoughtful, series of presents they were. Nine ladies dancing. Seven swans swimming. And how about those five golden rings??

As we were singing through the song a thought came to our festive mind… how about a 12 days of Christmas list of our own? Now, the six geese-a-laying is a fine gift but not necessarily something that we can use on the regular. So we drafted a list of twelve various things that we could definitely use at The Hope Center. And these are things that we can use year round, not just the twelve days before or after Christmas.

So as you’re checking off items from your Christmas list, maybe grab one or two off of ours. This list is small and simple but incredibly necessary and a huge relief for us to get in donations due to the large amount that we use throughout the year.

So, without any further adieu, we give to you our Twelve Gifts of Christmas (the holiday tune is optional):

On the first day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us bottles of pain relievers(Advil or Tylenol type)

On the second day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us non-drowsy cold meds

On the third day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us coffee and creamer

On the fourth day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us travel-size men’s shampoo

On the fifth day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us jars of peanut butter*

On the sixth day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us brand new pillows

On the seventh day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us spaghetti and sauce

On the eighth day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us fast food gift cards**

On the ninth day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us candy bars

On the tenth day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us liquid laundry detergent(and/or dryer sheets)

On the eleventh day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us travel-size men’s deodorant

On the twelfth day of Christmas our neighbors gave to us spray disinfectant(Lysol or similar brands)

*14 – 16 ounce jars of any brand peanut butter for our food bags

**The fast food gift cards from places like McDonald’s & Roy Rogers are used in the monthly birthday gifts given to the men who are residents and enrolled in our Foundations Life Recovery (13 month rehabilitation) program

Ok so our lyrics might not be as catchy or easy to sing to but these twelve items are a vital part of the programs and services we offer and by donating them you help us keep our costs down so that we can continue to provide shelter and all of our services free for anyone in the community who needs help. From food used for community meals and food bags, to birthday gifts for our residents like the fast food cards and candy bars, to toiletries for our homeless/transient guests, and detergent to wash all the bedding, towels and other fabrics, these everyday items can quickly put a dent in our budget for the entire operating year. But year after year God has provided and allowed us to increase services to helping hundreds of men, women, and children in our area because of faithful and generous people like yourself. And we’ve done it all since 1955 without burdening the taxpayer. Everything we do is without the assistance of tax dollars so each life that has been helped was done so out of pure love and generosity. And we thank you for providing, even if it’s just a jar of peanut butter, to help us continue to fight hunger, homelessness, and hopelessness in Hagerstown.

If you would like to donate items or funds to The Hope Center then please call 301.739.1165 or email us at hagerstownrescue@verizon.net. Thank you so much for giving, caring, and sharing this Christmas season. We hope God blesses you and your family this Christmas and in the new year to come!

Our new site provides a wealth of information for those seeking help and services as well as our supporters and volunteers who want to learn more about all the various ways we serve the community.

From learning about our rich history to fully understanding the entire scope of services we provide, our website can help answer any question you might have about The Hope Center.

Take some time to check out our new website at http://www.hagerstownhopecenter.com. And be sure to tell others who are looking for a local non-profit to support or are in need of help to check out our website for all the information they need.

The carefree days of summer have come and gone but while we still bask in the warmth of this long summer season, we can look back at all the fun-filled days of another great year at Camp Wild.

Camp Wild gave over 200 kids in Hagerstown the opportunity to experience a week of action-packed fun where they played games, sang & danced, created art, explored new worlds, made friendships and learned about how to live a life for Christ.

If you’re reading this and you are totally unfamiliar with Camp Wild let us take a quick moment to catch you up to speed. Camp Wild is a free day camp for kids ages 5-12 in Hagerstown. Transportation to and from the camp is provided for free along with lunch and all activities. The morning takes place in the Trinity Center at The Hope Center where the kids have time to play various games and sports while also interacting with our counselors. Then they have a time of praise & worship music where they can sing and dance their hearts out followed by a very interactive lesson time where the kids not only learn about Jesus but are challenged to think deep and learn how to apply what they’ve learned in to everyday life. Following the lesson time the kids break into small groups where they can discuss more with their leader. It’s midday by this time which means that stomachs are growling and it’s time for lunch. After everyone gets their fill of our delicious camp food, we pack up and head out to our outdoor adventure camp area located on the Conococheague Creek near Cearfoss. There the kids enjoy various activities with their groups like Sanaa (arts & crafts area), The Dig (archaeologist treasure hunt), Life Cycles (learning about animal life) and Zulu (African experience) among other attractions. Each day the groups rotate through the various attractions so that each camper has an opportunity to experience each one. Once the group attractions are completed then it’s free time for the campers to enjoy swimming, zip line, snacks, soccer, tubing, hayrides and more.

All of this fun is provided free of charge because we feel it’s important that every kid in Hagerstown has the opportunity to experience a fun-filled summer no matter what. But to keep it free we rely heavily on donations from churches, businesses and individuals in the community. And we’re so thankful for everyone who has partnered with us to provide a great summer for thousands of kids over the years!

And while we appreciate all that our sponsors in the community do, we cannot forget to thank the volunteers who put in countless hours and lots of energy bringing Camp Wild to life and touching the lives of all these kids. We understand that it’s a very tiresome, exhausting and challenging job at times but God has always supplied us with the right people to make our camp perfect each summer. Thank you to all of our counselors, assistants, stage hands, cooks, servers, drivers and anyone else who did so much to change the lives of kids. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Ok, by this point you’re probably ready to see some pics from Camp Wild 2016, aren’t you? We don’t blame you! Enjoy the images of Camp Wild 2016. And if you want to learn more about Camp Wild then go to http://www.campwildusa.com.

Wildside Youth Ministries at The Hope Center doesn’t just host Camp Wild. The school year is full of various free activities for kids ages 5-12. To learn more about Wildside Youth go to http://www.wildsideyouth.com. You’ll get all the up-to-date info about anything and everything Wildside.